Expect a flurry of blog posts this week, as I bring everything back up-to-date…. After my successful weekend in Wales zip-lining and paddle boarding with my friend Liam, I need to rush forwards to get that inspirational content on-line. And I don’t care if others don’t think it’s inspirational, I do and I’ll get it written as soon as possible.
After a quiet day, Saturday was the evening of the Hike Norfolk meal out, and we were delighted to see Gordon appear, he’s someone more often seen at socials than walking, but men of money are often like that. Gem is a Turkish restaurant in Norwich which is located opposite the railway station and in the former building operated by Prezzo. It’s an odd building to be used as a restaurant, with a minimal reception and waiting area, alongside poor acoustics and difficult areas for staff to see. However, the new operators have built themselves a formidable reputation and their reviews are good, with friends having gone telling me that the food is excellent. Although the emphasis of the restaurant is on Turkish food, there’s also some Greek and Kurdish options to add to the mix. As an aside, they opened I recall just before the first lockdown, so it must have been a challenging couple of years for them having to work through the enforced opening and closures.
In terms of the ambience, it’s loud, but that is apparently a common situation here. By the staff’s admission, there were a very loud table, although they only admitted that after the group had gone, but it did mean that the restaurant had quite a vibrant feel to it during the evening. For some people that sounds marvellous, although I rarely like vibrant venues, I like peace and calm.
The service was on-point and timely, with the team members being conversational, friendly and knowledgeable. Susanna and I would have gone for the set menus, but the entire table needs to order from those and so we thought that’d potentially come back another day for those. In terms of beer selection, that’s poor, but not perhaps unexpected, but the prices for them were off the scale and were more expensive than some central London venues. The restaurant also does the thing that CAMRA disapprove of and charge far proportionally more for a half than a pint. Anyway, that’s a comment that is a little unfair as they don’t portray themselves as a bar or beer restaurant, so I can’t much say it’s a negative about the venue. Although, I decided to just order tap water.
The service time was reasonable given how busy the venue was, but the restaurant was hot and they could perhaps do with some air conditioning here. I liked the engagement from the team members as well, they were trying their best to build up a rapport with customers, it’s clear customer service is important to them. I can’t say that we had any problems during the service, but I imagine that they would have been resolved politely and efficiently if we had.
I went for the main of chicken shish, large pieces of chicken which were cooked over a hot charcoal grill and so were tender on the inside and had a firm exterior. The rice was well cooked and the salad seemed fresh, with everything tasting of a good quality. I did have a coffee after the meal, which took far too long to arrive, although they did apologise on three occasions about that (they were pro-active apologies, I didn’t make three complaints).
As a venue, I thought that it was professionally run, it can’t be easy getting this volume of food out in a busy restaurant on a Saturday evening. They were fully booked which shows just how popular the restaurant has become, with nearly no negative on-line reviews. Reading through those reviews, there were a couple of annoyed people that they couldn’t change the items in the set menus, but it is clearly stated that this is the restaurant’s policy and it doesn’t seem unreasonable to have that policy. The pricing at the restaurant is a little towards the higher end of the scale, but they have the customer service and food quality to back that up. A vibrant venue on a Saturday night isn’t really something they can do a great deal about (other than by becoming unpopular), but it was particularly noisy which wasn’t entirely ideal. But, all still recommended.
Anyway, I’m of course not one to break any confidences about the Hike Norfolk meal discussion, other than to mention Gordon running off to hide in the toilet to avoid a situation, but I couldn’t possibly write any more than that and I’m sure it’ll be mentioned again at the Christmas meal.
Here’s a way of getting through the days quite quickly on this blog, stay in Norwich and don’t quite do anything of much interest. But it seems only right to comments on Simon’s visit to Norwich (this is the Simon of 100 fame), to reward me for my completing the LDWA 100 in 2021. Did I mention that I walked 100 miles in May 2021?
I forgot to take many photos other than of beer on this evening, but that’s the handy thing about Untappd (note my 2,000 badges that I achieved yesterday…..), I rarely forget photos of beer. On which subject, this was my favourite beer in the Artichoke where we started proceedings, the DIPA#2 from the GlassHouse Beer Co from Birmingham. This is the third beer that I’ve had from this brewery over the years, and they’ve all been delightful.
Then a quick visit to the Leopard, definitely one of the best pubs in the city, for the Knickerbocker pale ale, with flavours of strawberry, raspberry and cherry ice cream. Now, that’s an innovative beer, certainly a challenge for those drinkers (who I won’t name) who don’t like beer with flavour or taste. It wasn’t quite as rich as I would have liked, but still an enjoyable beer.
Then to the Plasterers, with this being the rich and decadent Imperial Stout Muda, from Puhaste Brewery in Estonia. And the Wotsits complemented it beautifully. I think Simon was by this point suitably impressed with the pubs available in the north part of Norwich City Centre.
The King’s Head was calling for the last pub of the night. I went for Mini Cheddars with the Nightlight Mild from Elmtree Beers, which was not perhaps particularly notable, but it was well-kept.
Emma, eager to hear from the gossip about Bev in Barcelona, as we all walked the Boudicca Way a few years ago, although Emma has perhaps sensibly retired from walking now. Simon couldn’t quite manage an entire night of drinking, but as he admitted, he’s from the north, and I didn’t say anything when he walked back to this hotel after a couple of hours. However, lovely to be back in Norwich, a reminder of just how many decent pubs we have in the city, as well as to see some people that I haven’t seen for some time.
That was certainly one of the quickest blog posts that I’ve written in recent weeks as well, there’s a lot to be said for staying in Norwich every now and then to catch up.
I had been getting a little behind with my blog, but I’m pleased to report for purists who dislike gaps that I’m able to catch up in one go by a few days as I was in Norwich for most of the week and have little of interest to report. That means, nothing for me to write about from the Monday to Thursday, other than my trekking up Gas Hill (Mountain) to go and vote.
The day started with breakfast at the Heathrow T5 Holiday Inn Express in what is a busy airport hotel and I think I took this photo at the quietest possible moment. This is all high volume turnover food and drink, but it’s all brand standard and what I expected from the chain. I like airport hotels for numerous reasons, and not just because it often means that I’m going away, but because there are people of different nationalities talking either about their excitement for going on a trip or talking about the one that they’ve been on. There were plenty of Americans in this hotel, not perhaps surprising given it’s an IHG property.
The bacon was odd, one side was slightly burnt and the other side was only just cooked, but it was very moreish and I think I rather overdid them and promptly got a salt overdose. That banana isn’t mine, Ross went for that. I didn’t say anything though. Given that the breakfast was included in the room rate, I thought that it was all quite reasonable, I did enjoy the bacon and sausages.
I would have usually taken this photo the previous evening, but it was a bit dark then…. The hotel is unlikely to win any design awards for its exterior, but the staff were helpful and I had no complaints about the stay.
It was a bus to Hounslow West (fortunately there’s a bus stop a short distance away from the hotel), which took longer than I had anticipated, the Bath Road certainly has a lot of stops. Ross got off at Holborn to change to the Central Line to go back home, whereas I had the Hike Norfolk walking day which meant that I stayed on the Piccadilly Line until King’s Cross.
After getting a quick free coffee, I started to walk along the Regent’s Canal from the King’s Cross area to meet the others. I didn’t rush, as the further I walked then the further I had to walk back and I had a very heavy bag after a few weeks away. Indeed, I had quite of little sit downs whilst letting the others walk towards me.
These gas holders at King’s Cross were modernised to be used as housing, this shows real innovation and respect for the local environment and its heritage. The one in Norwich was just pulled down in what I considered to be an appalling decision, but there we go. Mind you, although the properties are properly really lovely to live in, the prices start at £725,000 and there are sizeable annual service charges, so I think I’ll stay living in Norwich.
I could hear them coming (this is a video, if it doesn’t auto-play, then click on the image) as it’s fair to say that there are some loud members of the group. As I am the sole of discretion, I won’t mention any names. The walk was led by the formidable Steve along the route of the Regent’s Canal, which is 8.6 miles long and goes from Paddington in the west to the Limehouse Basin in the east. For my loyal followers, I reccied some of this walk with Steve and Bev a few weeks ago.
Dancing on graves isn’t usually acceptable behaviour, but it is here in Joseph Grimaldi Park. We diverted here because I knew of its existence, and I’ve written about it before.
The canal walk in mid-flow.
There were lots of opportunities for photos whilst walking.
A lock and I do enjoy watching boats navigate through these, always slightly relieved it’s not me that has to be in charge of that process. It looks quite complex and I’m not sure that I’d find a holiday on a boat relaxing if I had to do this more than once. I don’t think that I’m a born mariner though.
The lovely Sarah posing for photos. She was bravely walking the Rodent Wriggle the following week and was just a little nervous, but I did my best to offer helpful advice (did I mention that I’ve walked the LDWA 100?) and I’m pleased that I’m sure that I was useful as she completed it.
I went to the pub as I had a heavy bag and couldn’t be bothered walking any further (we had finished the Regent’s Canal early so Steve thought of another short walk he could lead), well, and I love pubs. This is the Craft Beer Co outlet at Limehouse, which again, I’ve written about before. The music was setting up and I helped pass over a couple of wires, which I think nearly defines me as a roadie (although perhaps I’ve rather under-estimated what they actually do).
I decided to leave at 16:00 with no disrespect to the musicians, but I’m not big on live music in pubs.
After a quick ride on the DLR and then a 15 minute walk (which I rushed in case the others got food before I got there), I caught up with the rest of the group in central London as they were looking for food options and they had chosen Franco Manca, partly because nowhere else was serving food. I had heard of this chain, which has about 60 outlets in the UK, but never visited and so thought this was an interesting choice.
The pizza was reasonably priced and suitably decadent, I was surprised and delighted. Mine was served first, so I had additional reason to like this restaurant. I went for the lightly smoked beechwood spicy salami with organic tomatoes, caramelised red onions and homemade chilli oil. Indeed, I’m making myself hungry two weeks on just thinking about that. I’d come here again, with the pizzas costing under £10 which is very reasonable for central London.
A successful meal I’d say (I didn’t hear any complaints), which meant that we just had a short walk back to London Liverpool Street railway station. They also had numerous charging points, which was handy to reinvigorate my numerous devices.
Steve posing at Liverpool Street, where we had a suitable rest whilst waiting for the train. I had been away for some time, including trips to Nuremberg and Barcelona, as well as a hike up a Welsh mountain on a challenge event, so I was ready to return home.
Boarding the train home, which was suitably uneventful other than for Andy accidentally punching someone, but I’m pleased to say that as it was an accident he wasn’t arrested by British Transport Police. I didn’t mind too much arriving back on time, as usually I look forwards to claiming the Delay Repay, but there was no delay on this service. And, as I’ve moaned about before when they put the bloody Stansted Express service on, I’m pleased to report there were tables and we had an appropriate train.
With that, it was good to be home and thanks to Steve for a really rather lovely day in London.
Saturday was the day that we were all returning back to the UK, Bev on Ryanair as she likes the jeopardy, with Ross and I departing with British Airways a little later on during the day. Without a huge desire to traipse heavy bags around for the day, we thought that we’d walk slowly around the city and then get onto the Metro to the airport. And that day started with a delicious goat’s cheese roll with doughnut and coffee at Cafe Bazar, with the advantage of people watching as the cafe windows overlooked the busy nearby market. I can’t recall a city with so many cafes, this was my sort of city….
It was a bit hot, but these narrow streets do a very decent job of shading walkers from the overheat sun pounding down on them.
Pub one and needs must… This was a sheltered terrace so that I wasn’t sitting in the sun itself, but it allowed Bev to feel free in the outdoors. We pondered whether we might have been better with the pub next door as their food looked quite exciting, but I got beer of sorts and that sufficed me. I know my loyal readers (or reader might be nearer the mark) might comment that this sounds very relaxed of me, but I had already accepted I wouldn’t be getting craft beer on this day.
Free olives, I was sold on this pub after that.
Bev, busy looking at the football scores, she was a nightmare doing that, always wanting to see how her favourite teams were getting on and getting the latest news on the transfer markets.
After the pub we had a little walk through the nearby park, which offered views over the city.
The second pub and more free olives. Bev ordered some dumplings as well, Ross gave up on beer and I just had to tolerate what they had. Such a trooper….
I’m glad I have a new phone now, as my old one didn’t produce the quality of the photos I’d like (obviously it can’t possibly be my fault that this photo is blurred). This was us waving goodbye to Bev as she was departing from a different terminal. I’m pleased to report that she got back safely with Ryanair and National Express, but that’s the end of Bev’s story on this blog. She was marvellous company as usual, glad that she’s out and about again.
That meant just one more stop on the Metro to get to Terminal 1, where we were departing from. As I mentioned earlier on in the week, I was impressed with the Metro system, it was clean, reliable and we rarely had to wait for more than a couple of minutes. Other than when Bev posted her ticket into the machine itself, we had no issues with the tickets either.
Safely at the airport with its grand sweeping spaces which felt rather under-used. Think of the number of craft beer bars that they could fit in there.
Ross wanted to go to Burger King, it says one minute but it took us about half an hour to find the bloody thing.
Not that I’ve ever tried smoking, and it’s not exactly likely I ever will, but this is a good idea for an airport, having an external outdoors area which is embedded within the airside section of the building. Smokers can then do what they want in this area, away from sensible non-smokers.
The lounge was easier to find than Burger King and we were welcomed in by a friendly member of staff and it’s fair to say that I was surprised at just how large it was. There were also plenty of power points which transpired to be useful.
More of the spacious lounge and I noticed that the staff were obsessively cleaning, always reassuring.
The food and drinks area, with a range of high and low seating. I prefer high seating and so we perched about three metres from the food for about three hours. What a time to be alive….
Cold meats and cheeses, some of my favourite food and quite a lot of this disappeared quite quickly as I needed to test its quality on numerous occasions.
Light bites. Ross had already gone to Burger King as the reviews of the lounge that we had already read didn’t make it sound very decadent, but I’m glad I didn’t get anything as I was surprised and delighted with the food options here. I took the risk that food would be available as I was hungry (again) and the lounge didn’t let me down.
There was a selection of pre-made rolls, or customers could make their own.
Pastries and biscuits.
It wasn’t busy at this time in the late afternoon, but it got much busier later on, but it was never going to be anywhere near capacity. This is the non-Schengen lounge, there’s another one for those boarding Schengen flights. I won’t mention that I’m quite jealous of them, as that might suggest how much I quite like the border-free arrangement of most of the EU.
They had three different beers which at least gave me some variety, although there was nothing that surprised and delighted me in that regard. There were plenty of different soft drinks though, so no shortage of choice and there were some spirit options as well.
The hot food only came out a little later on in the day, I’m not entirely sure why they couldn’t have been more generous with the hours that this was served. The portions were small, but the food had a depth of taste, and it was easy to just get another portion. This was the chicken curry, which wasn’t overly hot in terms of spice, but the chicken was tender and flavourful. The pasta was perhaps a little bland though.
Off we go, we were the 19:10 flight to London Heathrow.
This isn’t the plane we were getting, but I liked the view out of the window over the tarmac. The airport itself was spacious with plenty of seating and nowhere felt particularly busy, although it was clearly a well-used terminal.
The boarding gate and everything was neat and organised here, with plenty of seating. There was boarding by group number, which meant we could get on to board early on, giving me sufficient space to put my bag over my seat. I mention this as one group of three people put their bags in the overheads by the exit row seat before walking about twenty rows back, which gave the crew later on at the empty gaps for bags were at the back of the aircraft. I’m not sure why passengers do this, they’re in danger of the crew moving the bags into the hold if no-one in the vicinity identifies them as theirs.
Our aircraft, and again I’m writing this too far after the event to work out what the registration number was to see if I’d flown on this before. A pointless hobby of mine I accept, but it occupies me for a few minutes.
Boarding the aircraft, with the crew being friendly and personable. I wore my mask out of habit on the aircraft and only noticed mid-way through the flight that nearly no-one else was, namely because they weren’t required. It occurred to me that unless there’s another outbreak then this might have been the last time that I had to wear a face mask, so that’s the end of an era. Or, at least, I hope it’s the end of an era.
I had an exit row seat and there was no-one else in the row. Given that, during the flight I went to find Ross who was stuck at a middle seat somewhere near the back and suggested he moved forwards, which he did.
The usual snack on-board, so I can’t write anything different to what I usually do, which is it’s basic but I appreciate having something provided. Perhaps British Airways could though at some point rotate the snacks, as those customers who fly weekly deserve a little change. Maybe they could offer Hula Hoops, or something just that bit more decadent such as Roast Beef Monster Munch.
We sailed through security into T5 without any delays, always a relief when getting late at night. It was a quick walk to the bus stop at T5 to get the first of our two buses.
Waiting at the bus stop for the second bus to get us to the hotel and this is the Longford Pump, a Victorian water pump.
The accommodation situation wasn’t ideal, but the cheapest hotel in the area was the Holiday Inn Express and Ross and I can’t afford the luxury of the Sofitel that Richard always goes for. We got to the hotel just before midnight and I, as usual, had worried that they would have given our rooms away, but my concern was unnecessary. Although, that reminds me, they didn’t bother to reply to my email saying we’d be arriving late, so I’m now post-annoyed as I had forgotten I had sent that. Our hotel was the Holiday Inn Express T5, although it’s not hugely convenient for T5 if I’m being honest, as it requires two buses or taking the over-priced Hoppa Bus which I haven’t used for the best part of a decade.
I’ll take this opportunity to write a little about Barcelona, although I’ve alluded already to my thoughts about this rather really marvellous Spanish city. I was very much of the opinion that this was a city at ease with itself, as although Barcelona has problems with so much accommodation turned into holiday lets, the heart remains. The markets are vibrant, there are endless cafes, the food is of a decent quality, the people were friendly and the streets were clean. The beach area contrasted with the bustling city centre, the suburbs maintained their own identity and last, but definitely not least, there was decadent craft beer. I look forwards to going back, this was a city that felt on-trend, modern and well-run, I liked and enjoyed it very much. And thanks to Ross and Bev for keeping me company.
Our final full day in Barcelona was spent walking yet again, this was a surprisingly healthy week, even given all the craft beer bars that Ross demanded to go to. This is the Earth and Fire sculpture, designed by Joan Gardi Artigas. I’m not quite sure that I understand the point of it (excuse the unintentional pun), but I suppose it adds something to the public realm. And there are plenty of sculptures adorning the street of Barcelona, it’s an artistic city.
I very much like Barcelona’s grid pattern of streets, it feels very ordered. This is an interesting part of Barcelona’s history as their grid pattern shouldn’t logically be there, it’s an ancient city which had meandering medieval streets, not a new settlement such as those in the United States where planning was required. It’s all down to Ildefons Cerdà who connected the old city to some smaller satellite settlements with an urban infill which was very orderly. This took place at the end of the nineteenth century and so is relatively recent, but it all integrates so well into the older areas that it feels like the entirety of Barcelona is neatly laid out. I don’t think it would be controversial of me to say that they made a much better designing modern Barcelona than the British did with Milton Keynes.
Lunch was at Taca de Cafè which is very well reviewed and has a relatively small menu, which always feels reassuring to me in smaller premises. The beer was generic, but the starter of the three course meal was suitably refreshing.
The pastrami bagel was adequate, I removed the cheese and the pastrami itself was a little devoid of taste and I don’t think it needed to be heated at all as that seemed to make it lose flavour. Presentation was a little slapdash, such as the marked tomato which they could have just chopped up for the salads rather than presenting it like that. But, I didn’t have time to be too negative, as Bev was muttering something about her pasta meal that she was carefully working through, muttering something about bland.
The dessert situation was a little odd as the waiter listed several items and we all ordered different things and we all got the panna cotta that I had ordered. It was again adequate, but I’d say this meal rarely moved beyond that, I had expected some more bursts of flavour from a local cafe that was so well rated. The prices were though moderate and the service was attentive and polite. I would say that it all seemed quite authentically Spanish in the set-up, but that implies that the food in Barcelona is generic, which it most certainly isn’t. The concept was good though and lots of customers clearly enjoyed their experiences here.
With lunch out of the way, Bev thought she’d like to go a modern art museum, which doesn’t overly excite me, and I think it’s fair to say that she was generally in agreement with my assessment when she returned. Ross and I went to a craft beer bar, CocoVail. They had a few decent options on, with most beer styles being covered.
It’s less bar and more beer hall, a sizeable location that seems to be a mixture of German style design and American food. The beer selection was reasonable, although not exceptional, and it was relatively peaceful when we were there. There were though some British stag groups descending and it would be wrong to generalise and say that they were raucous and showed a lack of respect to their environment, so I shall just hint at that. Straight off the plane and straight into the bars, which is acceptable perhaps if drinking decent beer and not getting drunk by 15:00, but I mustn’t judge.
The table set-up here shows that they’re used to dealing with larger groups, I can imagine that this is quite a loud environment in the evenings.
Next stop was the Growler bar, a quirky little place where I went for the really rather excellent Cure for Cold Feet from Freddo Fox brewery, a not insubstantial 8% DNEIPA. We were quite tired by this time, several days of walking everywhere had started to take its toll, but we bravely battled on. They had a range of bottles as well to top up the options on the board, a wide range given the size of the venue. This constant use of blackboards across the craft beer bars makes things much easier, you don’t get that in Nuremberg…. (well, I did in one venue, but I didn’t get any customer service there, so that wasn’t much use as an overall package).
The internal decor, which was perhaps sometimes style over comfort in terms of the design as some of the seating options were a little uncomfortable. But the service was polite and the surroundings were comfortable. It was at this point I could have had a nap, but I don’t think very many bars appreciate their customers doing that. If I had a pub, I don’t think I’d put a bike on the wall, but there we go, everyone is different….
Final bar of the day was Brew Wild and I went for the Beti Smile by Gross and Onda Vital IPA by La Quince Brewing. This is a venue that I would like to return to, and likely will, it has a bar area at the front and a large restaurant at the rear. It was quieter than I had expected, but the Spanish do eat late and so I’m sure that it got much busier later. The food is primarily pizza, so that would have been me more than happy. Polite service and the beer selection was listed on Untappd, something that I always comment favourable about. It’s a very well reviewed venue and I liked the informality and wide range of beers, it was all suitably on-trend.
And that was that, we had planned to go to a Nepalese restaurant, but tiredness had crept in and so we agreed to get the Metro back to the apartment. KFC was a handy and convenient option, with Ross checking in advance that they had screens so he didn’t have to order at the counter. I bought some cheap meal deal, Ross appeared at the table five minutes later with half the menu on a selection of trays. There’s not much that I can say about the food, but it’s not as good as KFC in Poland. I think it’s fair for me to mention Poland here, I haven’t done for a while….
And, this is the apartment, three bedrooms and all sufficiently comfortable, although it’s not as luxurious as an Accor hotel of course. I very much appreciated the fan in my room as I’m not one for heat. Bev worked out how to get water from the sink, which is something that perhaps shouldn’t have been as complex as it was, and it was entirely beyond me. The kettle also didn’t work, but the hostel owners (who rent out the apartment) acquired us a new one and Bev enjoyed making lots of cups of coffee.
And Bev got the private balcony, which she didn’t utilise, not least because it was being used as a cleaning storage area and there wasn’t really space for a chair or any other little luxuries. The weather remained moderate all week, not too hot and so it was always a tolerable temperature for me, although this is the day that was the hottest and so I did seek out shade during our time walking.
As another aside, I’m getting a little behind with the blog, so I will do my best to get a burst of posts out, as I don’t want to upset my very loyal (and very small) readership who must be getting quite upset at the moment.
I might have gotten a little carried away again, this post is mostly about the Offa’s Twisted Wye Kanter LDWA challenge event and I managed to take 155 photos…. For anyone who wants to see them, they’re at https://flickr.com/photos/julianwhite-uk/albums/72177720298765447.
The NEC had met in Bristol the previous day and three of us, Julie, Bill and I went to do this challenge event in south Wales, with Stuart coming along to help with the marshalling. We were fortunate to get a lift with Bill’s son and partner, as the train options seemed a little challenging to get to the start before lunchtime. It was quite sad to leave the comfort of the Novotel in Bristol, but the sun was shining and the walk looked a good one.
As some background, Offa’s Twisted Wye Kanter is an event run by South Wales LDWA and it took place in 2017, 2018 and 2019. It’s back this year and there were four different routes and it uses routes such as Offa’s Dyke, Wye Valley Walk, Wales Coast Path and Gloucestershire Way. As some added excitement, there was also a series of questions from key points along the walk although GPX and route descriptions were available as well. Having a GPX is fortunate, this is the way that I like to navigate….
After a quick snack of toast at the beginning of the event, I mentioned to Dave and anyone who I suspected might listen that I was being very brave taking part. The trained sympathiser that I had asked for wasn’t available, but the volunteers at the event were endlessly helpful and supportive. After a final failed effort to swap with Stuart so that I could sit and eat cake whilst he went walking, it was time to collect my tally card for the adventure ahead.
And off we go through the sunny town centre of Chepstow.
I don’t think that I’ve been to Chepstow before, but I will go again as there are numerous things worth seeing including pubs and also the impressive castle, which apparently is the oldest surviving post-Roman stone fortification in Britain. It seems a charming town, with plenty of information about its history, definitely worth another visit.
Unfortunately, Chepstow is in the footlands of mountains, with this being a long slog up the hill although the locals have kindly provided a bench. I messaged Stuart here asking for a car to pick me up, but that request was refused. I had a feeling that there might be more slopes ahead…..
An atmospheric path.
I’m slightly annoyed that this photo doesn’t show how big these rocks were that entrants had to clamber over.
That’s better, they look much more challenging in these photos, and there’s Julie charging over them. To be fair, Dave warned me about these rocks and I sailed over them as I needed to get to the other side quickly to message everyone at HQ about how brave I’d been. Imagine a mountain goat, well, that was me.
My friend Liam would take one look at this and want to cycle down it….
I accept that the Wye Valley does look rather lovely.
The ruined St. James’s church at Lancaut, one of the earliest Christian churches in the Wye Valley area and it’s thought that there has been a religious building here since the seventh century. The Vikings kept interfering with arrangements here (mainly by pillaging and destroying stuff), with this current structure dating from the eleventh century. The village of Lancaut doesn’t exist any more, it was likely abandoned after the Black Death, although a few residents continued to live in the area. The church was used until the 1860s, but then the Rector decided to take the roof and interior fittings away, which it’s fair to say wasn’t ideal for the building’s future. It nearly fell down in 1980s and since then the structure of the church has been secured and it’s an interesting building, with some remnants of lime plaster visible.
The ruined church was a little bit more ruined when a part of the door mechanism fell off in my hand, but the LDWA are a responsible organisation and we ensured that the issue was resolved….
I thought for a moment that we were allowed to get the bus back.
A standing stone.
This was not what I wanted to see.
I took this opportunity to message Dave and question in a very positive manner why the route went through a wood which was evidently packed full of snakes ready to attack anyone walking through. It seems the snakes have been left without supervision as well, there were no snake wranglers in the area.
I’m sure there’s an interesting back story as to what has happened with this gate, but it wasn’t anything to do with us or the LDWA.
The view from Devil’s Pulpit (or a few metres away from it) which overlooks Tintern Abbey. Judging from the number of people, this is clearly a popular walk with locals and visitors to the area, and I can see why. Very picturesque.
There’s Devil’s Pulpit and I didn’t feel the need to stand on it as it didn’t look secure enough to me.
Over the river at Tintern.
Whilst we had a little break for lunch, Stuart decided to message at this point as he realised that I was about to summit another mountain on this walk and frankly, I think he was trying to deliberately annoy me, but I didn’t say anything…. I think Dave also found my messages useful about my thoughts on this mountain, as I sent several to reinforce what I was saying.
Some bluebells.
This tells a story of its own about Covid and then, later on, Putin.
St. Mary’s Church at Penterry and this is another mostly abandoned village, devastated by the Black Death. Platforms are visible in the field showing where some of the buildings were and there’s also an area which has been identified as a plague pit.
Simon interviewing Julie for the video about the event. Simon is a runner who completes these things far too fast, including the marshals’ event for the 100 last week.
One of the clues for the challenge walk was on the mast. Fortunately, just on the boards at the base and not higher up.
It’s always rather lovely to have a walk which goes past several churches.
Beautiful, the Wye Valley.
Woodland is one of my favourite terrains to walk through, I really enjoyed this section.
The history behind this property is substantial and it’s a real shame to see it in its current condition. It’s Piercefield House which is Grade II* listed, with the park around it being Grade I listed, not that this has helped in the building’s preservation. It dates from the late eighteenth century and its history is quite intertwined with that of slave owners, which was turned slightly on its head when in 1802 it was purchased by Nathaniel Wells, the son of a white slave owner and a black slave. He had a successful career as a magistrate and also as the first black sheriff in Britain. It’s also thought that Horatio Nelson, the hero of Norfolk (we have a lot of brave people) stayed a night here.
I’m not sure what can be done with this now, with a problem that there’s a limit to what can be done with the structure because of its historic listing. Some compromise is going to have to be made with regards to its heritage as very little of the building is left, but this would make a lovely hotel, craft beer venue or Greggs.
This is why I don’t eat lamb, look at their little faces…..
How very sweet. I decided the jolly happy one in the middle, who bounced into where he probably shouldn’t be, should be called Leon ?
Back at the end, there’s Dave and Stuart at the back and Julie at the front. I’m not one for gossip, but Dave mentioned he had hurt his back or something whilst standing around the checkpoint. I, however, completed my mountain expedition with no ill effects although I imagine that’s my tough Norfolk training coming to the fore. I’d also like to thank all the marshals who put this event together, it takes a lot of work and everyone was helpful and kind. There was a major controversy when Julie got a time that was one minute faster than mine, I think she must have slipped someone some Twixes for that, but I didn’t say anything.
Very lovely, although the Viennetta promised by Stuart didn’t arrive…. However, there was a marvellous selection of cakes.
Back into Bristol (thanks Bill and son!) and at Temple Meads, ready for the train back to London.
I spend quite a lot of time in waiting rooms and here’s the one at Bristol Temple Meads railway station, with power I’d add, as well as an excessively hot temperature. But I did think that perhaps my body was still at the 8,000 metre height that I had spent some of the challenge walk at, so maybe that was just me.
The GWR train sweeping into Bristol Temple Meads. I didn’t bother trying to get my reserved seat as there was a table seat without any reservations on it, meaning I could get some work done on the train.
The Crossrail train at Reading.
Not very busy, but that didn’t entirely surprise me on a Sunday night.
The Southall sign that has caused some controversy because of the translation at the bottom, although I fear the negativity is perhaps a little unwarranted as it’s hardly a substantial change.
I was annoyed by the time I got into this Ibis Budget Hounslow hotel room. The receptionist randomly said “I need your ID” in quite a blunt manner when checking in. I thought this was very odd, as there’s no need for them to see my ID at all, but I had my passport and just handed that over, as I’m quite compliant at hotels in case they offer me a lovely upgrade. Although I accept that there’s a limit to what an Ibis Budget can do. I thought that the service was terse, but it was late at night and I guessed that the staff member had perhaps had a long day, although I was slightly disappointed that I couldn’t tell her how brave I had been on the walk.
Anyway, a youngish black guy next to me (and I mention his colour for a reason) said “they wanted your ID as well?” to which I replied “yes, which was unusual”. The receptionist then started on me, saying that it has always been the hotel’s policy. The guy next to me said that he thought he was a victim of racism, and I can’t possibly comment on that, but the service was very odd from the receptionist. I replied saying I had stayed at the hotel several times and had never been asked for ID, but she was insistent that it was a policy at the hotel and that it was in the booking e-mail. I know bloody well it isn’t in the e-mail and so I perhaps unnecessarily asked her to show me where it was mentioned. She couldn’t find it and said that she didn’t know about third party booking sites and their emails.
I was a little annoyed at this service and mentioned I had booked with Accor directly so it was their email and I didn’t understand her hostility. Her claim was that the hotel was having problems with people pretending to be other people and that’s why ID was needed. At this point I couldn’t be bothered to argue any more, it isn’t the policy of Accor, Travelodge, Premier Inn or just about anyone else, although it is the policy of YHA but that’s because of child protection issues. I hope the poor guy got into the room that he had paid for, as the staff member’s attitude towards him was I felt completely unnecessary. It was nearly midnight and so this was an unkind and potentially reckless way to treat one of their customers, although I was just relieved that I had my ID so as not to be caught up in the same dispute.
Fortunately everything in the room was fine as I hardly dared go back down to reception anyway…… But with that, my day was complete and I could reflect on the glorious views that I had seen on the challenge event and all of the mountains that I had summited without complaint.
Sculptures aren’t often easy to define as cute, but this giraffe is winning the argument here, although it’s designed to look flirtatious. I wonder how that bid was put to the city planners, as a vision for a flirtatious giraffe is certainly something different. Known as Girafa coqueta, it was designed by Josep Granyer and placed here in 1972.
Perhaps Prince of Wales Road in Norwich could do with a flirtatious giraffe? We had quite a lot of meandering around in the morning as it was a ninety minute to our destination of the Sagrada Família.
Lato Cafe, a rather pleasant spot for lunch. The service was attentive, but the beer selection was poor and limited to a choice of one. Not ideal, but the surroundings were delightful and the staff particularly welcoming.
Beautifully presented, a sweet ceviche, which felt like healthy eating to me, an ideal way to complement the craft beers I was planning for later on in the day.
Ever the professional photographer, I’ve put a slight lean of the Sagrada Família in here. The new tower is visible on the right hand side with that star thing at the top. Work started on this cathedral in 1882, with Gaudi taking over as the architect the following year and it’s in his style which has made the building one of the most identifiable religious structures in the world. It is meant to be completed in the 2030s, although I can imagine that the timetable will slip somewhat as it’s already one of the longest running architectural projects in the world.
I didn’t go in because I’ve been in before and the admission charge is expensive, at over £20. I climbed the tower last time and the building is certainly a work of art. I’ll go in again when they’ve finished it.
Whilst Bev was inside the cathedral, Ross and I popped to a local cafe. They had signs sellotaped on every table saying that visits should be limited to thirty minutes and although I approve of the general passive aggressive nature of the messaging, it did make it feel unfriendly. The service was warm and friendly, but we were the only customers in there, so I decided that we could safely have a stay of over thirty minutes.
When I return to Barcelona, which is now nearly certain, I will spend more time investigating the cake options.
Our intrepid photographer.
We had an hour or so walk to the sea, but after all of that effort, Ross and Bev refused to go swimming.
I must admit that I wasn’t tempted either.
There’s a large beach area and there were people playing volleyball and the like, although there was plenty of space for anyone who did want to sun bathe.
I had identified a craft beer bar to go in that Ross would like, but it didn’t open for forty minutes, so I diverted us to Poblenou Cemetery. It’s a substantial sized cemetery where I imagine there are tens of thousands of burials. The first cemetery was laid out at this site in 1775, but it was destroyed by Napoleon’s troops and so was reconstructed in 1819. There have been numerous extensions added to the cemetery since given the number of burials.
Some graves were more ornately decorated than others.
A little ostentatious perhaps, but this is one of the many family tombs. Some of the tombs had been emptied out, I assume with the knowledge of the cemetery, but it’s very much an active site.
There was a lot of squawking when we walked past here.
The culprit, a seagull protecting its eggs.
This is just a little confusing, as one of my most favourite bars is Hoppiness, but that one is located in Warsaw.
Some interesting beer options and the bar surroundings were laid-back and welcoming, so it appears that I now have two bars called Hoppiness that I am quite partial to. I was very impressed with the beer here, I went for the Don’t Jinx It from SOMA beer, which was a formidable 8% DEIPA showing just how good Spanish micro-breweries can be. And if that wasn’t enough, I then went for the 11% Melting Moment imperial stout with white chocolate, another rich and decadent beer. This bar really was quite a treat, I’d certainly come back here.
I spent a little too long deciding how much I liked Hoppiness, which led us rushing by the Monument of Tribute at the large Parc de la Ciutadella. Just enough time for a quick photo though.
Our evening meal was again booked using The Fork, with 30% off the food at Craft Barcelona.
The drinks selection had a few Thornbridge options which was very acceptable, although I’ve had these before and wanted to have some more Spanish options. I had the Carolina del Sour from Milana and the Nancy from Cerveses Almogaver, the latter of which was an intriguing fruity and hazy IPA.
My bar food was entirely adequate, although the chorizo in cider sauce was a little bland, which is something that chorizo really shouldn’t be. However, the Nachos, chicken wings and the like all tasted fine, although with regards to the fried foods, it’s hard to get those wrong and Ross was content with his burger. Bev muttered for several minutes about her steak, but Ross and me didn’t get involved, although in the end, they didn’t charge for the meal and so I thought that was very positive. To my annoyance though, the restaurant pretended to The Fork that we had no showed, which I thought was petty of them. I did ask them to correct that, but they didn’t, so The Fork intervened directly. Disappointing and shoddy I though, I was going to leave them a positive review before they tried playing that game. I had quite liked the venue, but it’s one I hardly dare go back to now.
Erotic waffles? I don’t think you can get these on Norwich market. I hadn’t even noticed this shop, I just noticed Bev charging towards it with her camera. Ross and I didn’t say anything….
Mikkeller, an on-trend craft beer bar which has quite an international presence, particularly in their home territory of Scandinavia.
The beer list by the door, with quite a lot of gaps. I went for the La Federal from Cierzo Brewing Co, a porter which has chilli in it, with that heat being evident.
Mikkeller wasn’t as busy as I expected, I had thought it might be quite busy in the evening. Given that the staff member wasn’t doing much, I thought they were a lacking a little in engagement, but I had beer and so I was entirely content. It wasn’t clear whether food was served or not, it was mentioned on the web-site, but didn’t seem available and Bev had hoped for something as she had only eaten half a steak. It was though a suitable nightcap, before we got the Metro back to the apartment, with this time Bev managing not to post her ticket into the machine itself.
This blog has reached nearly 5,000 posts and it’s becoming really quite difficult for anyone to easily navigate around it. Topics veer between Good Beer Guide pubs to British Airways, from random museum exhibits to Wetherspoons, from Norfolk churches to walking group trips. Eclectic, absolutely, but for search engines and those who drop in occasionally, it’s too difficult to find anything.
I accept that this blog isn’t the most important media outlet in the country, however much I think that it should be. But, if something is worth doing, then it’s worth doing right. And just to reassure anyone who is concerned (goodness knows who) that the blog is closing, then that definitely won’t be happening. In the future, there will though be just one daily post which encompasses everything exciting (or what I consider exciting, which is very different to what others might define it at) that has taken place in the previous day that I think is worth writing about.
Which means that there will also now be a series of new web-sites where I’ll focus more specific content on. Over the next few weeks I’ll be creating entirely separate web-sites for:
Accor Hotels
British Airways
Good Beer Guide Pubs
Long Distance Walking
Poland
Random Museum Exhibits
UK Churches
Wetherspoon Pubs
Which will free this blog to become a more navigable site with its one post per day, linking to the above external sites when I think it’s necessary to do so.
I think it’ll be very lovely and I’ll be making the shift this week to the new style.
I’ve now completed all the Good Beer Guide listed pubs in Farnborough, although there are only three and one of those is effectively in a shed that the council has stopped the public from visiting. Going to Fleet for the day, there’s only Good Beer Guide pub listed there and it’s the JD Wetherspoon outlet, Prince Arthur.
I’ll use JD Wetherspoon’s history of the reason for the pub name:
“Fleet’s development as a town was due, in large measure, to the nearby army camp at Aldershot. In the 1890s, its commanding officer was Prince Arthur, third son of Queen Victoria. During his time in charge, Prince Arthur lived in Fleet. This was the first shop in Fleet with two entrances and had ‘a good turnover of groceries, including butter and tea’.”
There’s an odd thing about JD Wetherspoon pubs that you can, after several years of training by going in them so regularly, get the vibe almost as soon as entering. There are the glossy new pubs with shiny plugs, dimmer switches, every style of menu at the door, then there are the pubs that look as though they’re near to falling down, mostly the older ones in London that they’re straining to use every inch of space as they’re so busy. There are fabulous interiors in historic buildings and then pubs such as this, mostly from the turn of the century, when they were a little less decadent in the design amidst a wave of new openings. And these ones tend to have the best staff, they’ve almost moulded into the community in which they serve, the staff knew the customers and most of these are locals. These pubs are not flashy, but they’re reassuringly present and it’s noticeable that some of their most loyal older customers sit near to the entrance excited to see their friends come in. I like these pubs.
That egg looks far from ideal and I’m not quite sure why they’re serving them over easy in some attempt to perhaps replicate dining in the United States, but fortunately, the yolk was still runny. I’m not saying that my morning would have been ruined if I couldn’t dip the toast in the egg, but I would have muttered quietly to myself (and would have probably sent the egg back as I’m annoying like that). All else was fine with the breakfast and for the money it was entirely fine, we’re looking at under £5 for unlimited coffee and a traditional breakfast.
Half a pint of Illustrious from Irving & Co Brewers, a small brewery from Portsmouth. Quite a fruity pale ale, this one had a pleasant aftertaste, was well-kept and was priced at the ridiculously good value of £1. The staff here were friendly and personable, with more conversations between team members and customers than I’ve seen in a JD Wetherspoon outlet for quite some time, it had the feel of a community pub.
It’s a relatively large pub which stretches back some way, with numerous power points dotted around the place which is quite handy. The online reviews of the pub are quite reasonable, although they’ve annoyed the usual selection of customers over the years, including the:
“Shoddy short shelf life beers which often run out due to them buying up leftover stocks. Poor quality, end of life produce.”
Which is a persistent lie that only recently seems to be dying out…..
I’m conscious that some people dislike JD Wetherspoon, but the quality of the service, the range of the products, the cleanliness of the venue and the value combines to form a reliably positive experience. This particular pub does need a refurbishment at some point as it’s getting a little tired, but it seems a very sensible addition to the Good Beer Guide to me.
